February 24, 2014

Cinnabon Classic Cinnamon Roll K-Cups Review

With the recent news that Cinnabon was the ONLY dining choice at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, we figured now was the time to write up a review for the recently introduced Cinnabon Classic Cinnamon Roll K-Cups. We have no idea if any of the Olympic venues or the athlete's village had Keurig single serve brewers installed but we thought it would be interesting to see if our athletes were getting a decent quality coffee at the only dining facility which was open on-site. Will this coffee end up with the gold or go home with a bronze? Lets find out.

Brewing these K-Cups resulted in signature notes of Cinnabon cinnamon quickly filling the room and immediately made us wish we had an actual Cinnabon cinnamon roll to go along with this coffee (brilliant marketing tactic if you ask us). Other than the primary cinnamon notes, we also detected an overall sweetness in the background which evoked notes of vanilla icing. So far, so good.

Flavor was not quite as described on the box... while you do get a strong taste of Cinnabon cinnamon, you don't exactly get any taste of brown sugar or icing unlike what the label says. We even tried brewing a few more K-Cups just to make sure but each time, the main note we got was Cinnabon cinnamon and not much else. There was some sweetness to the overall taste, but to claim you'd get brown sugar & icing out of it is a bit of a long stretch. Short of eating an actual Cinnabon cinnamon roll WHILE you drink this coffee, there's no way you'll get any strong brown sugar or icing notes here. A bit disappointing really since the description is what lured us into buying a box in the first place. Don't get us wrong... as far as cinnamon flavored coffees go, this one is probably one of our favorites, but a Cinnabon roll in a coffee cup this is not.

Acidity surprisingly well balanced and aided somewhat by the strong cinnamon notes present in the flavor as you got some vibrancy breaking through at times but the cinnamon taste was keeping things in check and prevented much of the sour notes from revealing themselves. Body yielded bright shades of orange and red along with shades of reddish-brown which evoked the color of cinnamon sticks. Mouth feel was smooth throughout and the coffee had a nice substance to it which prevented things from getting watered-down while finish remained mildly sweet & yielded more cinnamon notes in the aftertaste.

Aroma - 10 - Signature bursts of Cinnabon cinnamon quickly fill the room followed by sweet notes of vanilla icing underneath. You'd swear you were standing in line at a Cinnabon outlet in the food court. It also gave us an instant craving for Cinnabon's cinnamon rolls. Simply outstanding.

Acidity - 10 - Surprisingly well-balanced overall, aided by the strong cinnamon flavor somewhat as it prevented too many sour notes from coming through. Helped keep things in check while still allowing some vibrancy through in the final cup.

Body - 10 - Bright shades of orange & red with shades of reddish-brown. It reminded us of the colors present in cinnamon sticks and played well with the overall Cinnabon motif.

Flavor - 8 - We'll take a few points off simply due to the fact that we didn't taste any brown sugar or icing notes as promised in the description, but we did get some level of sweetness in the background with the signature Cinnabon cinnamon taste taking centre stage. Anyone familiar with Makara cinnamon will agree that cinnamon-wise, this flavor is spot-on.

Coffee Drinker - Beyond all shadow of a doubt, this one is aimed squarely at Cinnabon fans. If you love the aroma & taste of Cinnabon's signature cinnamon, you're going to enjoy this coffee immensely. While some might find the cinnamon taste a bit too strong, Cinnabon fans will feel right at home. This is billed as a light roast, so medium & dark roast drinkers should look elsewhere (International Delight does make a Cinnabon-flavored creamer after all).

Overall Rating: 98 - Excellent

Cinnabon uses a unique blend of Indonesian Makara cinnamon which is unlike most cinnamon powders & spices on the market. It has its own signature aroma & taste which immediately makes you think of a Cinnabon outlet as soon as you smell it. Given that this coffee is branded with the Cinnabon logo, we'd say it was executed perfectly since you most definitely get the main Cinnabon cinnamon taste & aroma in these K-Cups. While we would have liked for the brown sugar & icing notes in the description to have been present in the final flavor, we still think if we had to pick between a Cinnabon cinnamon coffee or a regular cinnamon coffee, we'd pick the Cinnabon version every time (plus the icing notes are present somewhat in the aroma). There's just something intoxicating about Makara cinnamon which doesn't make you want any other type of cinnamon. Some people claim that once they've tried 100% pure Swiss milk chocolate, they can't go back or care for regular chocolate and the same is true in this instance. Just how enticing is the aroma? In Canada, AirWick even released a Cinnabon scented oil fragrance. Yeah, it's THAT good.

This also marks the introduction of the new Keurig-brewed ring logo going around the edges of the K-Cup foil lid since this is the first K-Cup we've noticed which has the new design. We can only guess that since the original black circle Keurig-brewed logo at the bottom of the lid wasn't standing out, Keurig decided this new ring logo would be more obvious and it certainly is since there's no mistaking it. All new K-Cups now have this logo and we wouldn't be surprised if the existing line-up is revamped to carry it as well. This also lines up well with reports that the new Keurig 2.0 brewer will only brew licensed K-Cups. While it's not clear right now how this will take place (embedded RFID chips, character or code recognition, etc.) forcing users to get accustomed to the new ring logo will train them to look for it when the new Keurig 2.0 K-Cups hit the market since we're inclined to think the new K-Cups will have the same logo on them. As for our overall verdict on this coffee? If you like the smell & taste of Cinnabon cinnamon, this one's for you.

Jim: I purchased a opus coffee maker and liked the sample read moreStephanie: I would like to know why grocery stores do not read moreNancy: I want to buy this lid read moreXelleld: I don't think they sell it nationwide. It only seems read moreBatman: I agree! The Junior Mints K cup is the best read more